Durban – Richards Bay locals say Armed Forces Day is one of the most important events the town has hosted and they are looking forward to it.
The event is hosted in different provinces each year. Last year, Armed Forces Day was held in Mbombela, Mpumalanga.
President Cyril Ramaphosa will officiate the SANDF Armed Forces Day on Tuesday.
The SANDF said the Armed Forces Day is held annually on February 21 to commemorate the World War I naval tragedy in which 616 South African troops died when the SS Mendi steamship sank on its way to France.
Residents watching the rehearsal parade in the Richards Bay CBD said they were looking forward to the main event tomorrow.
Lusanda Phiwani, a second-year student at the University of Zululand, said she won’t be able to attend the event as she will be at school.
“It is exciting that the president will be here in Richards Bay, I have already seen a rehearsal parade ... at our Richards Bay campus, but I would have loved to see the president live,” said Phiwani.
Another resident, Thembi Myeni, said seeing SANDF members in the town is exciting.
“I will be attending the event tomorrow and I am very happy that our president will be there to see our beautiful town and its attractions,” said Myeni.
Raylene Naidoo said as much as it is exciting that the president will be in the city, she wishes he could address the constant power outages due to load shedding and the rising unemployment rate in the country.
“Our city has been badly affected by the load shedding and the power outages that are happening and we feel like that is something he needs to address and see the negative impact it has caused.”
Naidoo added: “We like what we have seen from the SANDF members, and we have learnt a lot from the events they have been holding for the past week.”